The nerd-tension thing...
Teaching, I sometimes hit a spot where I sag, and then the students sag. I'm finding ways to work around this, and so far it all boils down to getting so damn excited about the quirky workings of our catalog that the students are just sort of astounded to a point beyond boredom, and astounded that, yeah, I'm that big of a nerd. Unapologetically. Loving it. Then they're watching me, me up in front, unknown to myself as the social car-wreck I must be, and they all rubber-neck, almost embarrassed for me, watching me hemorrage on Boolean Logic. They get an ear full of databases and such, the hour passes, and we're done.
And it works, hey. Or at least it's a start.
I actually tried to crack a joke about an atlas of geological history. And nobody, actually, laughed. I've always had trouble "out cooling" people, but now I know that I can consistently "out nerd" my patrons -- and I do see that as a great advantage.
I've got another class in an hour, and I'm looking forward to it.
They're pretty good students.
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Reading: The Pegasus Librarian thinks on tagging
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